Page 41 - ModernParadiseFLIPBOOKcomplete

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The repercussions were huge. Henry had been at the peak of his power. He had
quashed all rebellions and overcome all potential opponents. But the drownings
were a devastating blow. The loss of his heir would provoke a succession crisis. He
had no further sons, and when he chose his daughter, Mathilda to succeed him as

queen in her own right, patriarchal opinion was scandalised. On Henry’s death, his
nephew Stephen claimed the throne. Civil war broke out, “the Anarchy”.

One chronicler (Orderic Vitalis) blamed the White Ship disaster on a large quantity of
wine which had been loaded on board. Passengers and crew spent the whole day
drinking. Things got out of hand, Some people got off: “they realized that there was

too great a crowd of wild and headstrong young men on board. Priests came there
with other ministers carrying holy water to bless them, they laughed and drove them
away with abuse and guffaws.” Instead, they called upon the ship’s captain, Thomas,
to set sail and see if he could catch up with king’s ship which had left earlier. It was
now midnight.

So was drunkenness to blame? A rival conspiracy theory says that the sinking was
deliberate. The Earl of Chester was on board; his heir and nephew was not. He had a

strong motive: if the ship and its distinguished passengers were to be lost, At a
stroke, he’d inherit his uncle’s earlship and become the most powerful king-maker in
England. The name of a mysterious royal steward appears on the passenger list, yet